2009 Report to Government on National Research and

Table 1. Approximate annual levels of funding for R&D on management of higher
activity wastes
Funding provider Approximate maximum annual spend
(£M)
NDA Radioactive Waste Management
Direc<strong>to</strong>rate
NDA Direct Research Portfolio 4**
NDA Site Licence Companies 60***
Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council
Natural Environment Research Council 0.25
British Geological Survey (non-NERC) 0.6
European Commission 2
Total Less than 72
*The NDA RWMD and DRP figures are its spend on contrac<strong>to</strong>rs. They exclude costs associated
with NDA R&D staff and support functions.
**Total DRP budget is £6M; CoRWM estimates the proportion relevant <strong>to</strong> higher activity wastes
and materials that may be declared <strong>to</strong> be wastes <strong>to</strong> be this amount.
***Total SLC R&D budget is about £90M; CoRWM estimates the proportion relevant <strong>to</strong> higher
activity wastes and materials that may be declared <strong>to</strong> be wastes <strong>to</strong> be this amount.
3.6 The figures for NDA shown in Table 1 were derived from CoRWM’s estimates of
the proportion of NDA’s spend that was for R&D specifically <strong>to</strong> support the
implementation of geological disposal. All of the SLC spend shown in Table 1 is
for R&D on waste conditioning, packaging and s<strong>to</strong>rage, as is much of the DRP
spend. CoRWM estimates that less than 5% of NDA’s £101M R&D expenditure in
2008-09 was for geological-disposal-related R&D.
3.7 The SLCs are responsible for decisions on their own radioactive waste
management R&D. They have their own programmes of work; these are driven
by the task in hand, including meeting regula<strong>to</strong>ry requirements for safety and
environmental protection. The SLCs’ R&D programmes are defined in Technical
Baseline and underpinning R&D documents (TBuRDs) linked <strong>to</strong> the SLC Life
Time Plans (LTPs). The TBuRDs set out the technical baselines for the site,
describe the technical challenges that the SLCs face and summarise the R&D
that is deemed necessary <strong>to</strong> meet them. For each NDA site, it is the contractual
responsibility of the SLC <strong>to</strong> develop an LTP and assess the associated
timescales and costs. The LTP includes the reference means of conditioning,
packaging and s<strong>to</strong>ring wastes. Where there are unknowns or significant
uncertainties, the need for R&D is identified. The R&D requirements are compiled
in the TBuRD, which is updated annually (NuSAC, 2008).
3.8 The “NDA Research and Development Needs, Risks and Opportunities” (NDA,
2006a) document is a compilation produced before the development of the
CoRWM Document 2543, Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>2009</strong> Page 27 of 151
3*
2